An important biological area, but still poorly known: the Morro Grande Forest Reserve

Abstract

The Morro Grande Forest Reserve (10,870 ha) is one of the biggest forest areas in the Atlantic Plateau. This region was intensively deforested for agriculture, wood and charcoal production, and more recently by the expansion of urban areas. The Reserve is located in the cristalline Plateau of Ibiúna, just above the Paranapiacaba Mountain (860 1075 m above sea level), in a transition region between the rainy climate from the Atlantic coast, and the seasonal climate from inland São Paulo state. As a consequence, species composition in Morro Grande Reserve combines elements from the tropical rainforest and the semideciduous forest. Despite this particularity, few studies were carried out in the forests from Morro Grande. It is only in 2000 that a group of scientist related to the BIOTA/FAPESP program began a systematic analysis of the species composition of different taxonomic groups, as well as the analysis of ecological processes related with forest regeneration. The present manuscript introduces a series of nine articles with the biological data obtained in the Reserve these last four years, and aims also to present an historical and abiotic description of the Reserve, highlighting aspects of the relief, geologic and pedological conditions, climate, hydrography, land use and land cover.